REUTERS
The Pension Fund disbursed UAH 286.6 billion ($10.6 billion) in benefits to retirees in 2017.
The average pension in Ukraine as of January 1, 2018 grew by 35.7%, or by UAH 652.15 (US$24.2) against January 1, 2017, to UAH 2,480 ($91.9).
In particular, the minimum old-age pension as of January 1, 2018, increased by 16.4% to UAH 1,452 ($53.8) from January 1, 2017, the Pension Fund of Ukraine (PFU) reported.
Over the past year, there have been two phases of pension increase. First, they were raised on May 1, 2017 due to the change in the living wage. Then the change touched upon 8.2 million retirees, accounting for 68% of the total number of Ukrainian pensioners. The minimum old-age pension rose by 5.2%.
The second increase in pensions was on October 1, 2017, and related to 10.2 million retirees, accounting for 90% of the total number of pensioners. The minimum old-age pension increased by 10.7%, or UAH 140 ($5.2), to the current UAH 1,452 ($53.8).
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Moreover, the PFU granted 384,300 new pensions in the past year.
"In 2017, the share of PFU's funds in securing pension payments increased, while the state budget funds' share in securing average pension payments decreased from 58.2% as of January 1, 2017, to 45.6% on January 1, 2018," the report says.
The Pension Fund's revenues grew by 42.3%, or UAH 47.2 billion ($1.7 billion) in 2017 against 2016. The state budget funds channeled to the Pension Fund, in particular, to cover its deficit, decreased from UAH 141.3 billion ($5.2 billion) in scheduled allocations to UAH 133.5 billion ($4.9 billion) on practice.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the PFU budget for 2017 was approved with UAH 284 billion ($10.5 billion) in revenue and UAH 141 billion ($5.2 billion) in subsidies to cover the deficit. The Fund's budget for 2016 set UAH 257 billion ($9.5 billion) in revenues.
On January 11, 2018, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the Pension Fund budget 2018 with UAH 139 billion (5.2 billion) in subsidies to cover the deficit. The Fund's budget revenue is set at UAH 353.628 billion ($13.1 billion), while the expenditure part totals UAH 345.812 billion ($12.8 billion).